Rotate instructions that complete execution without reading carry flag

ABSTRACT

A method of one aspect may include receiving a rotate instruction. The rotate instruction may indicate a source operand and a rotate amount. A result may be stored in a destination operand indicated by the rotate instruction. The result may have the source operand rotated by the rotate amount. Execution of the rotate instruction may complete without reading a carry flag.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Various different embodiments relate to instructions, methods ofexecuting the instructions, execution units to execute the instructions,or devices incorporating such execution units. In particular, variousdifferent embodiments relate to rotate instructions for which executioncompletes without reading a carry flag, methods of executing theinstructions, execution units to execute the instructions, or devicesincorporating such execution units.

2. Background Information

Rotate instructions are commonly included in instruction setarchitectures (ISAs). The rotate instructions allow devices to rotatedata.

One known rotate instruction is the ROR—Rotate Right instruction. TheROR instruction is described in the Intel Architecture SoftwareDeveloper's Manual, Volume 2: Instruction Set Reference, Order Number:243192, 1999.

In addition to causing rotation, the ROR instruction also reads thecarry flag. Reading such an arithmetic flag tends to take additionaltime. Moreover, the need to read the carry flag may tend to increaseserialization, which may tend to limit parallel processing and/orspeculative execution.

Moreover, the ROR instruction also overwrites a source operand with adestination operand. The source operand is destroyed upon completion ofexecution of the ROR instruction. In some applications, additional datamovement instructions or operations may be needed to preserve the sourceoperand. These data movement instructions or operations tend to takeadditional time.

Due to the importance of quickly and efficiently processing data, newand different rotate instructions would be useful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by referring to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings that are used to illustrateembodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of an instructionprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block flow diagram of an embodiment of a method ofprocessing an embodiment of a rotate instruction.

FIG. 3 illustrates an EFLAGS register representing a particular exampleembodiment of a suitable flags register and having a carry flag (CF) andan overflow flag (OF).

FIG. 4 illustrates one particular example embodiment of a suitable32-bit general-purpose register set.

FIG. 5 illustrates another particular example embodiment of a suitable64-bit general-purpose register set.

FIG. 6 shows a description of a RORX instruction representing aparticular example embodiment of a rotate instruction.

FIG. 7 shows operation in pseudocode of a RORX instruction representinga particular example embodiment of a rotate instruction.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a first example embodiment of a suitablecomputer system.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a second example embodiment of a suitablecomputer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details, such asinstruction implementation specifics, data types, register types,register arrangements, processor types, system configurations, and thelike, are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of theinvention may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not beenshown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of thisdescription.

Embodiments pertain to an instruction processing apparatus having anexecution unit to execute a rotate instruction and complete execution ofthe rotate instruction without reading a carry flag.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of an instructionprocessing apparatus 100. In one or more embodiments, the instructionprocessing apparatus may be a general-purpose processor. The processormay be any of various complex instruction set computing (CISC)processors, various reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors,various very long instruction word (VLIW) processors, various hybridsthereof, or other types of processors entirely. In one or moreembodiments, the processor may be a general-purpose processor of thetype manufactured by Intel Corporation, of Santa Clara, Calif., althoughthis is not required. Specific examples of general-purpose processorsavailable from Intel Corporation include, but are not limited to, Intel®Core™ i7 processor Extreme Edition, Intel® Core™ i7 processor, Intel®Core™ i5 processor, Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor, Intel® Core™2 Quadprocessor, Intel® Core™2 Duo processor, Intel® Pentium® processor, andIntel® Celeron® processor.

Alternatively, the instruction processing apparatus may be aspecial-purpose processor. Representative examples of suitablespecial-purpose processors include, but are not limited to, networkprocessors, communications processors, cryptographic processors,graphics processors, co-processors, embedded processors, and digitalsignal processors (DSPs), to name just a few examples. These processorscan also be based on CISC, RISC, VLIW, hybrids thereof, or other typesof processors entirely.

In still other embodiments, the instruction processing apparatus may bea controller (e.g., a microcontroller), or other type of logic circuitcapable of processing instructions. In still further embodiments, theinstruction processing apparatus may be an instruction executingcryptographic circuit.

Referring again to FIG. 1, during use the instruction processingapparatus may receive an embodiment of a rotate instruction 102. By wayof example, the rotate instruction may be received from a memory or fromsoftware. The rotate instruction may represent a machine instruction orcontrol signal that is recognized by the instruction processingapparatus. The instruction processing apparatus may have specific orparticular circuitry or other logic (e.g., software combined withhardware and/or firmware) that is operable to perform a rotate operationon data in response to and/or as specified by the rotate instruction andstore a rotated result in response to, or as a result of, the machineinstruction.

The illustrated embodiment of the instruction processing apparatusincludes an instruction decoder 104. The decoder may receive and decodethe rotate instruction. The decoder may generate and output one or moremicro-operations, micro-code, entry points, microinstructions, otherinstructions, or other control signals, which reflect, or are derivedfrom, the original rotate instruction. The decoder may be implementedusing various different mechanisms. Examples of suitable mechanismsinclude, but are not limited to, microcode read only memories (ROMs),look-up tables, hardware implementations, programmable logic arrays(PLAs), and the like.

The decoder is not a required component of the apparatus. In one or moreother embodiments, the apparatus may instead have an instructionemulator, an instruction translator, an instruction morpher, aninstruction interpreter, or other instruction conversion logic. Variousdifferent types of instruction emulators, instruction morphers,instruction translators, and the like, are known in the arts. Theinstruction conversion logic may receive the rotate instruction,emulate, translate, morph, interpret, or otherwise convert the rotateinstruction, and output one or more instructions or control signalscorresponding to the original rotate instruction. The instructionconversion logic may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, ora combination thereof. In some cases, some or all of the instructionconversion logic may be located off-die with the rest of the instructionprocessing apparatus, such as a separate die or in a system memory. Insome cases, the instruction processing apparatus may have both thedecoder and the instruction conversion logic.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the instruction processing apparatus includesan execution unit 106. By way of example, the execution unit may includean arithmetic logic unit, or another type of logic unit capable ofperforming rotation operations. The execution unit includes a rotateunit 108. Different types of rotation units, such as barrel rotators,are known in the arts. The invention is not limited to any known type ofrotation circuit or unit.

In the illustrated embodiment, the execution unit is coupled with, orotherwise in communication with, an output of the decoder. The term“coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct electricalcontact or connection. However, “coupled” may also mean that two or moreelements are not in direct connection with each other, but yet stillco-operate or interact with each other (e.g., through an interveningcomponent). As one example, the decoder and the execution unit may becoupled with one another through an intervening optional buffer or othercomponent(s) known in the arts to possibly be coupled between a decoderand an execution unit. As a result of the decoder decoding the rotateinstruction, the execution unit may receive one or moremicro-operations, micro-code entry points, microinstructions, otherinstructions, or other control signals, which reflect, or are derivedfrom, the rotate instruction. Alternatively, the execution unit mayreceive and execute instructions or control signals from theaforementioned instruction conversion logic.

In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may be operable as aresult of the rotate instruction 102 indicating a source operand (SRC)and a rotate amount to store a result in a destination operand (DEST)indicated by the rotate instruction, in which the result has the sourceoperand rotated by the rotate amount. In one or more embodiments, therotate instruction may be a rotate right instruction, which may rotatethe data to the right. Bits rotated out of the least significant bit(LSB) may be rotated or wrapped back in through the most significant bit(MSB). Alternatively, the rotate instruction may be a rotate leftinstruction. During the rotation the data is not lost but rather justrotated or rearranged. The execution unit may include circuitry or otherexecution logic (e.g., software combined with hardware and/or firmware)operable to execute the instructions or other control signals derivedfrom the rotate instruction and perform a rotation operation of therotate amount on the source operand.

The rotate instruction may implicitly indicate and/or explicitly specify(e.g., through one or more dedicated fields or sets of bits) the sourceand destination operands and the rotate amount. Examples of suitablesources of the operands and the rotate amount include registers, memory,immediates of the instruction, and combinations thereof. In variousembodiments, the source and destination operands may be 16-bit, 32-bit,or 64-bit operands, although this is not required.

In one or more embodiments, some or all of the source and destinationoperands may be stored in registers of a register set 110. The registerset may be part of a register file, along with potentially otherregisters, such as status registers, flag registers, etc. The registermay be a storage location or device that may be used to store data. Theregister set may often be physically located on die with the executionunit. The registers may be visible from the outside of the processor orfrom a programmer's perspective. For example, instructions may specifyoperands stored in the registers. Various different types of registersare suitable, as long as they are capable of storing and providing dataas described herein. The registers may or may not be renamed. Examplesof suitable registers include, but are not limited to, dedicatedphysical registers, dynamically allocated physical registers usingregister renaming, combinations of dedicated and dynamically allocatedphysical registers, etc. Alternatively, one or more of the source anddestination operands may be stored in a storage location other than aregister, such as, for example, a location in system memory.

Referring again to the illustration, the processor or other instructionexecution apparatus may include a plurality of arithmetic flags 114. Thearithmetic flags include at least a carry flag 116. In one or moreembodiments, the flags may be included in a register 112, such as astatus register, a flags register, or a condition code register (CCR).

Processors and various other types of logic devices often utilizearithmetic flags. The flags may include one or more bits, often in aregister. The flags don't have to be bits in a register. A flag mayinclude a flip-flop circuit. A bit flag may store a binary value, suchas a binary one or a binary zero. A plurality of bits may store asequence of binary values or a code. Such binary values, or sequences ofbinary values, may represent different values of the flag. Thesedifferent values of the flag may have an assigned or understood meaningto the processor or other logic device. The flags may be used forvarious different purposes. In some cases, the flags may be used torecord a status, state, condition, or outcome of operations within theprocessor or other logic device.

A carry flag is a well-known type of arithmetic flag that is commonlyfound in processors and other logic devices. The carry flag may be usedto indicate whether or not there is overflow in arithmetic operations.For example, the carry flag may have a first value if there is overflowduring a prior calculation, or the carry flag may have a second value ifthere is no such overflow. The carry flag may be used to indicate thatan arithmetic operation has generated a result that is greater inmagnitude than the number of bits in a given register or storagelocation can represent. For example, in one or more embodiments, thecarry flag may be a single bit that may be set to 1 if an arithmeticoperation generates a carry or borrow out of the most-significant bit ofthe result, and the carry flag may otherwise be set to 0. The carry flagis often utilized in arithmetic operations, such as addition andsubtraction.

In one or more embodiments, the arithmetic flags may also include anoverflow flag. An overflow flag is another well-known type of arithmeticflag that is commonly found in processors and other logic devices. Theoverflow flag is often a single bit in a register. The overflow flagroughly corresponds to a signed version of the carry flag. The overflowindicates when an arithmetic overflow has occurred in an operation. Theoverflow flag is set when the most significant bit (MSB) is set orcleared. The overflow flag may be set if a result is too large apositive number, or is too small a negative number, to fit in adestination operand. The overflow flag may be used to indicate that aprevious operation resulted in a signed number whose sign wasinconsistent with signs of operands that produced it. For example, theoverflow flag may be set when the addition of two positive numbersproduces a negative result, or when the addition of two negative numbersproduces a positive result. It is not really important to fullyunderstand in detail the functions and uses of the carry flag and theoverflow flag in order to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

In one or more embodiments, the arithmetic flags may also include one ormore other types of arithmetic flags. Other arithmetic flags that aresometimes included in processors or certain other logic devices includea sign flag, a zero flag, an auxiliary carry flag, or a parity flag, ora combination thereof. Not all of such flags are included in allprocessors or other logic devices. Additionally, different names aresometimes used for these different flags.

In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may be operable tocomplete execution of the rotate instruction without reading the carryflag. This is shown conceptually by the large “X” through the arrow inthe illustration.

In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may be operable tocomplete execution of the rotate instruction without reading an overflowflag. In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may be operable tocomplete execution of the rotate instruction without writing the carryor overflow flags. In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may beoperable to complete execution of the rotate instruction without readingany of the carry flag, the overflow flag, a sign flag, a zero flag, anauxiliary carry flag, or a parity flag. In one or more embodiments, theexecution unit may be operable to complete execution of the rotateinstruction without either reading or writing any of the carry flag, theoverflow flag, the sign flag, the zero flag, the auxiliary carry flag,or the parity flag. In one or more embodiments, the execution unit maybe to complete execution of the rotate instruction without eitherreading or writing any arithmetic flags. Alternatively, in one or moreembodiments, the execution unit may be operable to write all of thearithmetic flags without reading any of the arithmetic flags.

To avoid obscuring the description, a relatively simple instructionprocessing apparatus has been shown and described. It is to beappreciated that other embodiments may have a plurality of executionunits. For example, the apparatus may include multiple different typesof execution units, such as, for example, logic units, arithmetic logicunits (ALUs), arithmetic units, integer units, etc. At least one ofthese units may be responsive to an embodiment of rotate instruction asdisclosed herein. Still other embodiments may have multiple cores,logical processors, or execution engines. An execution unit operable toexecute a rotate instruction as disclosed herein may be included withinat least one, at least two, most, or all of the cores, logicalprocessors, or execution engines.

The instruction processing apparatus may also optionally include one ormore other well-known components. For example, other embodiments mayoptionally include instruction fetch logic, pre-decode logic, schedulinglogic, re-order buffers, branch prediction logic, retirement logic,register renaming logic, and the like, or some combination thereof.These components may be implemented conventionally, or with minoradaptations that would be apparent to those skilled in the art based onthe present disclosure. Further description of these components is notneeded in order to understand the embodiments herein, although furtherdescription is readily available, if desired, in the public literature.There are literally numerous different combinations and configurationsof such components known in the arts. The scope of the invention is notlimited to any known such combination or configuration. Embodiments maybe implemented either with or without such additional components.

FIG. 2 is a block flow diagram of an embodiment of a method 220 ofprocessing an embodiment of a rotate instruction. In variousembodiments, the method may be performed by a general-purpose processor,a special-purpose processor (e.g., a graphics processor or a digitalsignal processor), a hardware accelerator (e.g., a cryptographicaccelerator), or another type of logic device or instruction processingapparatus.

A rotate instruction may be received, at block 221. The rotateinstruction may indicate a source operand and a rotate amount.

A result may be stored in a destination operand indicated by the rotateinstruction, at block 222. The result may have the source operandrotated by the rotate amount.

Execution of the rotate instruction may complete, at block 223. In oneor more embodiments, the execution of the rotate instruction maycomplete without reading a carry flag.

In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may be operable tocomplete execution of the rotate instruction without reading an overflowflag. In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may be operable tocomplete execution of the rotate instruction without writing the carryor overflow flags. In one or more embodiments, the execution unit may beoperable to complete execution of the rotate instruction without readingany of the carry flag, the overflow flag, a sign flag, a zero flag, anauxiliary carry flag, or a parity flag. In one or more embodiments, theexecution unit may be operable to complete execution of the rotateinstruction without either reading or writing any of the carry flag, theoverflow flag, the sign flag, the zero flag, the auxiliary carry flag,or the parity flag. In one or more embodiments, the execution unit maybe to complete execution of the rotate instruction without eitherreading or writing any arithmetic flags. Alternatively, in one or moreembodiments, the execution unit may be operable to write all of thearithmetic flags without reading any of the arithmetic flags.

Completing execution of the rotate instruction without reading the carryflag, or in some cases without reading either the carry flag or theoverflow flag, or in some cases without reading any arithmetic flags,may help to increase the speed of execution of the rotate instruction.Reading the carry flag takes time. Moreover, even when read the carryflag and the other arithmetic flags are often not used by the rotateinstruction. Accordingly, since reading these flags takes time, andsince often these flags are not used, the speed of execution of therotate instruction may be increased by not reading the carry flag and/orthe carry flag and one or more other flags.

In addition, completing execution of the rotate instruction withoutreading the carry flag, or in some cases without reading either thecarry flag or the overflow flag, or in some cases without reading anyarithmetic flags, may also help to reduce serialization due to flagdependencies. Reducing such serialization may allow parallel processing,out-of-order execution, and/or speculative execution to be betterexploited, which may help to increase the speed of many algorithms.

Rotate instructions are often included in algorithms with otherinstructions that modify the flags. For example, rotate instructions areoften included in algorithms with logical instructions, such as ANDinstructions, XOR instructions, and the like. Such logical instructionscommonly, update the flags. The know ROR instruction may read the flags,and may therefore have a dependency on the flags. As a result, the RORinstruction may need to wait for execution of a preceding logicalinstruction to complete before it can execute, or at least fullyexecute. This may tend to serialization due to the flag dependencies.Note that this is not due to data dependencies, but rather due to flagdependencies. Some algorithms, such as, for example, hashing andcryptographic algorithms, tend to use relatively large proportions ofboth logical and rotate instructions. Accordingly, the amount of flagdependent serialization in such algorithms may be relatively high.

Such serialization may tend to hinder parallel processing, out-of-orderexecution, and/or speculative execution. For example, an out-of-ordermachine may not be able to execute the known ROR instruction before thelogical instruction, even though there may be no data dependencies. Thismay tend to slow the execution of these algorithms.

However, as discussed above, in one or more embodiments, the rotateinstruction may complete without reading the carry flag, or in somecases without reading either the carry flag or the overflow flag, or insome cases without reading any arithmetic flags. This may help to reducethe dependency on the flag or flags, which may help to reduceserialization in algorithms where the rotate instruction is used alongwith logical or other instructions that modify the flags. As a result,greater advantage may be taken of parallel processing, out-of-orderexecution, and/or speculative execution. This may tend to increase thespeed and/or efficiency of hashing, cryptographic, and other algorithms.

In one or more embodiments, a rotate instruction may have operanddefinitions that further help to increase the speed of execution ofvarious algorithms. Recall that the known ROR instruction causes thesource operand to be overwritten with the destination operand. As aresult, unless the source operand is moved (e.g., with a MOV or othermove instruction), or otherwise preserved, execution of the RORinstruction will cause the source operand to be overwritten with thedestination operand. In other words, the source operand will bedestroyed. However, in some algorithms, the source operand may be neededbeyond the execution of the rotate instruction. Accordingly, thesealgorithms often include additional MOV or other move instructions, orother types of instructions to preserve the source operand. In extremecases, the number of such additional instructions can be quitesignificant. These additional instructions need to be decoded,potentially buffered, and executed.

In one or more embodiments, a rotate instruction may explicitly specifya source operand and explicitly specify a destination operand.Advantageously, this may allow different registers or other storagelocations to be explicitly specified for the source and destinationoperands to prevent the source operand from being overwritten with thedestination operand. Consequently, both the source and destinationoperands may be available upon completion of the rotate instruction.This may have several possible advantages. For one thing, this may helpto avoid a data movement instruction, or other type of instruction topreserve the source operand. Advantageously, this may help to reduce thenumber of instructions that need to be decoded, potentially buffered,and executed. For another thing, if a decoded stream buffer (DSB) or thelike is to be used, reducing the number of instructions may help toallow a loop of decoded instructions to fit within the DSB.Advantageously, this may help to increase processing speed by avoidingspeed limiting decoding operations.

Two areas where rotate instructions tend to be used heavily are hashingand cryptography. Over the past several years, there has been asignificant increase in the use of both hashing and cryptography.Increasingly more Internet, and other network transactions are beingcryptographically secured. As a result, dedicated cryptographicaccelerators, embedded cryptographic processors, servers supporting manyconnections, and the like, may perform such cryptographic algorithmsvery frequently. Accordingly, the performance of these devices may besignificantly affected by the speed and/or efficiency at which they areable to perform these cryptographic algorithms. Desktop and laptopcomputers, and other devices, although perhaps less frequently, are alsoasked to perform such cryptographic algorithms. In addition, theproportion of rotate instructions in certain hashing and cryptographicalgorithms tends to be relatively high. For example, in some hashing andcryptographic algorithms about 10% or more of the instructions may berotate instructions. As a result, improving the speed of execution ofthe rotate instruction may have a significant impact on the overallspeed of execution of the algorithm. Of course the rotate instructionshave a wide variety of other uses beyond hashing and cryptography (e.g.,data compression, decompression, data scrambling, descrambling, etc.)

Turning now to the rotate amount, various different embodiments ofrotate instructions may specify the rotate amount in various differentways. In one or more embodiments, the rotate instruction may indicate orspecify the rotate amount through an immediate. The immediate mayrepresent an operand that is directly encoded as part of or contained inthe rotate instruction. An immediate byte value is often represented byimm8.

As another option, in one or more embodiments, the rotate instructionmay implicitly indicate a second source operand having the rotateamount. For example, the rotation amount may be stored in an implicitregister or other storage location. In one particular exampleembodiment, the implicit register may be the general-purpose registerreferred to as CL.

As yet another option, in one or more embodiments, the rotateinstruction may explicitly specify a second source operand, such as aregister, having the rotate amount. For example, in one or moreembodiments, the rotate instruction may optionally use a VEX encoding.The VEX encoding may allow the instruction to explicitly specify anadditional operand. As one particular example, the rotate instructionmay specify the operation DEST=ROTATE (SRC by SRC2). Further descriptionof VEX, if desired, is available in Intel® 64 and IA-32 ArchitecturesSoftware Developer's Manual Volume 2A: Instruction Set Reference, A-M,Order Number: 253666-032US, September 2009.

FIG. 3 illustrates an EFLAGS register 330 representing one particularembodiment of a suitable flags register. This particular register andthese particular flags are certainly not required.

The EFLAGS register is a 32-bit register that includes a group of statusflags, a control flag, and a group of system flags. The status flagsinclude a carry flag (CF, bit 0), a parity flag (PF, bit 2), anauxiliary carry flag (AF, bit 4), a zero flag (ZF, bit 6), a sign flag(SF, bit 7), and an overflow flag (OF, bit 11).

The system flags include a trap flag (TF, bit 8), an interrupt enableflag (IF, bit 9), an I/O privileged level (IOPL, bits 12-13), a nestedtask (NT, bit 14), a resume flag (RF, bit 16), a virtual-8086 mode (VM,bit 17), an alignment check (AC, bit 18), a virtual interrupt flag (VIF,bit 19), a virtual interrupt pending (VIP, bit 20), and an ID flag (ID,bit 21). The control flag includes a direction flag (DF, bit 10). Bits22-31 of EFLAGS are reserved.

The EFLAGS register is the successor to an earlier 16-bit FLAGSregister. Additionally, the EFLAGS register, in 64-bit mode processors,has been succeeded and extended to 64-bits by an RFLAGS register. Thelower 32-bits of RFLAGS is the same as EFLAGS. In each of the FLAGS,EFLAGS, and RFLAGS registers, the carry flag (CF) is bit 0 and theoverflow flag (OF) is bit 11. Additional description of theEFLAGS/RFLAGS registers, and the carry flag, if desired, is available inIntel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual, Volume 1:Basic Architecture, Order Number: 253665-032US, September 2009.

In one or more embodiments, the rotate instruction may indicate a sourceoperand and/or a destination operand in a general-purpose register set.To further illustrate certain concepts, example embodiments of suitablegeneral-purpose registers available in various x86 architectureprocessors will be discussed, although these particular registerscertainly are not required.

FIG. 4 illustrates one particular example embodiment of a suitable32-bit general-purpose register set 432. The 32-bit register setincludes eight 32-bit or doubleword general-purpose registers. Theseregisters are referred to as EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, ESI, EDI, EBP, and ESP.These 32-bit registers are also addressable in 16-bit and 8-bit modes.The lower 16 bits of the EAX, EBX, ECX, and EDX registers are referredto as AX, BX, CX, and DX, respectively. By way of example, word unsignedintegers having 16-bits may be stored in the registers BX, CX, and DX,respectively. Doubleword unsigned integers having 32-bits may be storedin the registers EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, ESI, EDI, EBP, ESP, R8D-R15D.

FIG. 5 illustrates another particular example embodiment of a suitable64-bit general-purpose register set 534. The 64-bit register setincludes sixteen 64-bit or quadword general-purpose registers. Theseregisters are referred to as RAX, RBX, RCX, RDX, RSI, RDI, RBP, RSP, R8,R9, R10, R11, R12, R13, R14, and R15. These registers are operable in32-bit mode on 32-bit operands, and operable in 64-bit mode on 64-bitoperands. The lower 32-bits of the RAX, RBX, RCX, RDX, RSI, RDI, RBP,and RSP registers respectively correspond to the EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX,ESI, EDI, EBP, and ESP registers. The lower 32-bits of the registersR8-R15 are also addressable in 32-bit mode and are referred to byR8D-R15D. By way of example, quadword Unsigned integers having 64-bitsmay be stored in the registers RAX, RBX, RCX, RDX, RSI, RDI, RBP, RSP,or R8-R15.

Additional description of the general-purpose registers, if desired, isavailable in Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer'sManual, Volume 1: Basic Architecture, Order Number: 253665-032US,September 2009. These particular registers are examples only, and arenot required.

A rotate instruction, according to one particular example embodiment, isa RORX—Rotate Right Logical Without Affecting Flags instruction. TheRORX instruction is a two-operand instruction, with both of the operandsbeing explicit operands. The instruction operand encoding for the RORXinstruction is shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 RORX Operand Encoding Operand1 Operand2 Operand3 Operand4ModRM:reg (W) ModRM:r/m (R) NA NA

Operand1 is explicitly specified and may be in the 32-bitgeneral-purpose registers (reg) for the 32-bit mode instruction, or inthe 64-bit general-purpose registers for the 64-bit mode instruction.Write (W) is allowed for Operand1.

Operand2 is explicitly specified and may be in the 32-bitgeneral-purpose registers (r), or memory (m), for the 32-bit modeinstruction, or in the 64-bit general-purpose registers, or memory, forthe 64-bit mode instruction. Read (R) is allowed for Operand2.

Operand3 and Operand4 are not available for RORX. RORX has an immediatebyte (imm8) to specify the rotate amount.

FIG. 6 shows a description of a RORX instruction representing aparticular example embodiment of a rotate instruction. 16-bit operandsize is not presently encodable, although it is possible.

FIG. 7 shows operation in pseudocode of a RORX instruction representinga particular example embodiment of a rotate instruction. SRC refers tothe explicitly specified source operand, DEST refers to a destinationoperand, imm8 refers to an immediate byte used to specify the rotateamount, the symbol “>>” means shift right, the symbol “<<” means shiftleft, the symbol “|” means bitwise OR. This shows how the rotate can beconsidered two shifts.

No flags are affected by RORX. There are no SIMD floating pointexceptions for RORX. Further description of opcodes, encoding, REX, andVEX prefixes, if desired, is available in Intel® 64 and IA-32Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 2A: Instruction SetReference, A-M, Order Number: 253666-032US, September 2009.

One or more embodiments include an article of manufacture that includesa tangible machine-accessible and/or machine-readable medium havingstored thereon a rotate instruction that if executed by a machine (e.g.,an execution unit or a processor) causes a data rotation operation andcompletes execution without reading a carry flag. The tangible mediummay include one or more solid materials. The medium may include, amechanism that provides, for example stores, information in a form thatis accessible by the machine. For example, the medium may optionallyinclude recordable mediums, such as, for example, floppy diskette,optical storage medium, optical disk, CD-ROM, magnetic disk,magneto-optical disk, read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM),erasable-and-programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically-erasable-and-programmable ROM (EEPROM), random access,memory (RAM), static-RAM (SRAM), dynamic-RAM (DRAM), Flash memory, andcombinations thereof.

Suitable machines include, but are not limited to, execution units,general-purpose processors, special-purpose processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors and cryptographic processors), cryptographic accelerators,network communications processors, computer systems, network devices,modems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, and a widevariety of other electronic devices with one or more execution units, toname just a few examples.

Still other embodiments pertain to a computer system, embedded system,or other electronic device having an execution unit and/or performing amethod as disclosed herein.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a, first example embodiment of a suitablecomputer system 801. The computer system includes a processor 800. Theprocessor includes at least one execution unit 806 that is capable ofexecuting at least one rotate instruction 802.

The processor is coupled to a chipset 881 via a bus (e.g., a front sidebus) or other interconnect 880. The interconnect may be used to transmitdata signals between the processor and other components in the systemvia the chipset.

The chipset includes a system logic chip known as a memory controllerhub (MCH) 882. The MCH is coupled to the front side bus or otherinterconnect 880.

A memory 886 is coupled to the MCH. In various embodiments, the memorymay include a random access memory (RAM). DRAM is an example of a typeof RAM used in some but not all computer systems. As shown, the memorymay be used to store instructions 887, such as one or more rotateinstructions, and data 888.

A component interconnect 885 is also coupled with the MCH. In one ormore embodiments, the component interconnect may include one or moreperipheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interfaces. Thecomponent interconnect may allow other components to be coupled to therest of the system through the chipset. One example of such componentsis a graphics chip or other graphics device, although this is optionaland not required.

The chipset also includes an input/output (I/O) controller hub (ICH)884. The ICH is coupled to the MCH through hub interface bus or otherinterconnect 883. In one or more embodiments, the bus or otherinterconnect 883 may include a Direct Media Interface (DMI).

A data storage 889 is coupled to the ICH. In various embodiments, thedata storage may include a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, aCD-ROM device, a flash memory device, or the like, or a combinationthereof.

A second component interconnect 890 is also coupled with the ICH. In oneor more embodiments, the second component interconnect may include oneor more peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interfaces. Thesecond component interconnect may allow various types of components tobe coupled to the rest of the system through the chipset.

A serial expansion port 891 is also coupled with the ICH. In one or moreembodiments, the serial expansion port may include one or more universalserial bus (USB) ports. The serial expansion port may allow variousother types of input/output devices to be coupled to the rest of thesystem through the chipset.

A few illustrative examples of other components that may optionally becoupled with the ICH include, but are not limited to, an audiocontroller, a wireless transceiver, and a user input device (e.g., akeyboard, mouse).

A network controller is also coupled to the ICH. The network controllermay allow the system to be coupled with a network.

In one or more embodiments, the computer system may execute a version ofthe WINDOWS™ operating system, available from Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash. Alternatively, other operating systems, such as, forexample, UNIX, Linux, or embedded systems, may be used.

This is just one particular example of a suitable computer system. Forexample, in one or more alternate embodiments, the processor may havemultiple cores. As another example, in one or more alternateembodiments, the MCH 882 may be physically integrated on-die with theprocessor 800 and the processor may be directly coupled with a memory886 through the integrated MCH. As a further example, in one or morealternate embodiments, other components may be integrated on-die withthe processor, such as to provide a system-on-chip (SoC) design. As yetanother example, in one or more alternate embodiments, the computersystem may have multiple processors.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a second example embodiment of a suitablecomputer system 901. The second example embodiment has certainsimilarities to the first example computer system described immediateabove. For clarity, the discussion will tend to emphasize thedifferences without repeating all of the similarities.

Similar to the first example embodiment described above, the computersystem includes a processor 900, and a chipset 981 having an I/Ocontroller hub (ICH) 984. Also similarly to the first exampleembodiment, the computer system includes a first component interconnect985 coupled with the chipset, a second component interconnect 990coupled with the ICH, a serial expansion port 991 coupled with the ICH,a network controller 992 coupled with the ICH, and a data storage 989coupled with the ICH.

In this second embodiment, the processor 900 is a multi-core processor.The multi-core processor includes processor cores 994-1 through 994-M,where M may be an integer number equal to or larger than two (e.g. two,four, seven, or more). Each core may include at least one execution unitthat is capable of executing at least one embodiment of an instructionas disclosed herein. As shown, the core-1 includes a cache 995 (e.g., anL1 cache). Each of the other cores may similarly include a dedicatedcache. The processor cores may be implemented on a single integratedcircuit (IC) chip.

The processor also includes at least one shared cache 996. The sharedcache may store data (e.g., instructions) that are utilized by one ormore components of the processor, such as the cores. For example, theshared cache may locally cache data stored in a memory 986 for fasteraccess by components of the processor. In one or more embodiments, theshared cache may include one or more mid-level caches, such as level 2(L2), level 3 (L3), level 4 (L4), or other levels of cache, a last levelcache (LLC), and/or combinations thereof.

The processor cores and the shared cache are each coupled with a bus orother interconnect 997. The bus or other interconnect may couple thecores and the shared cache and allow communication.

The processor also includes a memory controller hub (MCH) 982. As shownin this example embodiment, the MCH is integrated with the processor900. For example, the MCH may be on-die with the processor cores. Theprocessor is coupled with the memory 986 through the MCH. In one or moreembodiments, the memory may include DRAM, although this is not required.

The chipset includes an input/output (I/O) hub 993. The I/O hub iscoupled with the processor through a bus (e.g., a QuickPath Interconnect(QPI)) or other interconnect 980. The first component interconnect 985is coupled with the I/O hub 993.

This is just one particular example of a suitable system. Other systemdesigns and configurations known in the arts for laptops, desktops,handheld PCs, personal digital assistants, engineering workstations,servers, network devices, network hubs, switches, embedded processors,digital signal processors (DSPs), graphics devices, video game devices,set-top boxes, micro controllers, cell phones, portable media players,hand held devices, and various other electronic devices, are alsosuitable. In general, a huge variety of systems or electronic devicescapable of incorporating a processor and/or an execution unit asdisclosed herein are generally suitable.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details have been set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments of the invention. It will be apparenthowever, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodimentsmay be practiced without some of these specific details. The particularembodiments described are not provided to limit the invention but toillustrate embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention isnot to be determined by the specific examples provided above but only bythe claims below. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures,devices, and operations have been shown in block diagram form or withoutdetail in order to avoid obscuring the understanding of the description.Where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions ofreference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicatecorresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similarcharacteristics.

Certain operations may be performed by hardware components, or may beembodied in machine-executable instructions, that may be used to cause,or at least result in, a circuit or hardware programmed with theinstructions performing the operations. The circuit may include ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor, or logic circuit, to namejust a few examples. The operations may also optionally be performed bya combination of hardware and software. An execution unit and/or aprocessor may include specific or particular circuitry or other logicresponsive to a machine instruction or one or more control signalsderived from the machine instruction to store an instruction specifiedresult operand.

It should also be appreciated that reference throughout thisspecification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “one or moreembodiments”, for example, means that a particular feature may beincluded in the practice of embodiments of the invention. Similarly, itshould be appreciated that in the description various features aresometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, Figure, ordescription thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure andaiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects. This method ofdisclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intentionthat the invention requires more features than are expressly recited ineach claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspectsmay lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment.Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description are hereby expresslyincorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a rotateinstruction, the rotate instruction indicating a source operand and arotate amount; storing a result in a destination operand indicated bythe rotate instruction, the result having the source operand rotated bythe rotate amount; and completing execution of the rotate instructionwithout reading a carry flag, without reading an overflow flag, withoutreading a sign flag, without reading a zero flag, without reading anauxiliary carry flag, without reading a parity flag, without writing thecarry flag, without writing the overflow flag, without writing the signflag, without writing the zero flag, without writing the auxiliary carryflag, and without writing the parity flag.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein receiving comprises receiving a rotate instruction thatexplicitly specifies the source operand and that explicitly specifiesthe destination operand.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receivingcomprises receiving a rotate instruction that explicitly specifies asecond source operand having the rotate amount.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein receiving comprises receiving a rotate instruction thatimplicitly indicates a second source operand having the rotate amount.5. The method of claim 1, wherein completing execution of the rotateinstruction completes in one clock cycle.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein said completing comprises completing execution of the rotateinstruction with execution of a single micro-operation derived from therotate instruction.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the rotateinstruction comprises a rotate right instruction, wherein the sourceoperand has a size selected from 32 bits and 64 bits, wherein the sourceoperand comprises one of a general-purpose register and a location in amemory, and wherein the destination operand comprises a general-purposeregister.
 8. The method of claim 1, performed by a general-purposemicroprocessor having a plurality of cores, and wherein at least one ofthe cores has circuitry responsive to the instruction.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the rotate amount is indicated in an immediate of therotate instruction.
 10. An apparatus comprising: an execution unit thatis operable as a result of a rotate instruction indicating a sourceoperand and a rotate amount to store a result in a destination operandindicated by the rotate instruction, the result having the sourceoperand rotated by the rotate amount, and to complete execution of therotate instruction without reading a carry flag, without reading anoverflow flag, without reading a sign flag, without reading a zero flag,without reading an auxiliary carry flag, without reading a parity flag,without writing the carry flag, without writing the overflow flag,without writing the sign flag, without writing the zero flag, withoutwriting the auxiliary carry flag, and without writing the parity flag.11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the execution unit is responsiveto a rotate instruction that explicitly specifies the source operand andthat explicitly specifies the destination operand.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the execution unit is responsive to a rotateinstruction that explicitly specifies a second source operand having therotate amount.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the execution unitis responsive to a rotate instruction that implicitly indicates a secondsource operand having the rotate amount.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein the execution unit is operable to complete execution of therotate instruction in a single clock cycle.
 15. The apparatus of claim10, wherein the execution unit is operable to complete execution of therotate instruction with execution of a single micro-operation.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the execution unit is included within acore of a multi-core general-purpose microprocessor.
 17. An apparatuscomprising: an execution unit that is operable as a result of a rotateright instruction explicitly specifying a source operand and animmediate having a rotate amount to store a result in a destinationoperand explicitly specified by the rotate right instruction, the resulthaving the source operand rotated right by the rotate amount, and tocomplete execution of the rotate instruction without reading a carryflag, without reading an overflow flag, without writing the carry flag,and without writing the overflow flag.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein the execution unit is operable to complete execution of therotate instruction in a single clock cycle, and wherein the executionunit is included within a core of a multi-core general-purposemicroprocessor.
 19. A system comprising: an interconnect; a processorcoupled with the interconnect, the processor operable as a result of arotate instruction indicating a source operand and a rotate amount tostore a result in a destination operand indicated by the rotateinstruction, the result having the source operand rotated by the rotateamount, and to complete execution of the rotate instruction withoutreading a carry flag, without reading an overflow flag, without writingthe carry flag, and without writing the overflow flag; and a dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM) coupled with the interconnect.
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the processor is responsive to a rotateinstruction that explicitly specifies the source operand and thatexplicitly specifies the destination operand.
 21. An article ofmanufacture comprising: a tangible machine-readable storage mediumincluding solid matter, the tangible machine-readable storage mediumincluding at least one of a floppy diskette, an optical storage medium,an optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, aread only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), anerasable-and-programmable ROM (EPROM), anelectrically-erasable-and-programmable ROM (EEPROM), a random accessmemory (RAM), a static-RAM (SRAM), a dynamic-RAM (DRAM), and a Flashmemory, to provide a rotate instruction, the rotate instruction toindicate a source operand and a rotate amount and if executed by amachine to cause the machine to perform operations comprising: storing aresult in a destination operand indicated by the rotate instruction, theresult having the source operand rotated by the rotate amount; andcompleting execution of the rotate instruction without reading a carryflag, without reading an overflow flag, without writing the carry flag,and without writing the overflow flag.
 22. The article of claim 21,wherein the rotate instruction is to cause the machine to determine thesource operand that is explicitly specified by the rotate instructionand to store the result in a destination operand that is explicitlyspecified by the rotate instruction.